nelson



Feb. 27, 1923.

1,446,985 c. A. NELSON v CONVEYER vSTRUCTURE Filed Feb. 1, 1922 :5shesbrneet l Tara/7702": 1; mm @wlw/vw Feb. 27, 1923. I 1,446,985

c. A. NELSON CONVEYER STRUCTURE Filed` Feb. l, 1922 5 sheets-sheet 2Feb. 27,1923, y 1,446,985

C. A. NELSON CONVEYER STRUCTURE vFiled Feb. l, 1922 3 sheets-sheet 52"/7 venray.'

Patented Feb. 27, 1923.

PATENTbfFFiCE;

CHARLES NELSON, 0F EAST 315mm,` GONGTICUT.

ing ltha elevation pf 'the mute'rial,4 which a- .teriaL ho\ v.ever1s,dehVeI-ed to the Tecwmg vated as menfto;edl.'`r K Alsoaih@ twhmnt 1Qand ,themainonveyer ll are operatively connected and drivdn che groundkind srve @me pme-m1 sup'- A relatively short bucket conveyer 28 issupported in an inclined position on the upper portion of the skeletonframe structure 17 and serves to deliver the material to be transportedtothe hopper 26, being operatively supported by suitable shafts,comprisino the shaft 29 at the upper end and the Sima so at the lowerend. The sprocket chain 15 serves to drive the short bucket conveyer 28in any proper manner, as through the medium of the sprocket gear 31 thatis mounted on the laterally extending end portion of the upper Shaft 29.

The lowerr shaft 30 is driven from the upper shaft 29 by the sprocketchains 32 that support the ybuckets 33 of the short bucket conveyer 28;

The lower end 'portion 34 of the short bucket conveyer 28 is relativelyclose to the ground and the material is fed thereto by means of a pairof sweeper devices 35 posi` tioned one on each side thereof, and whichare constructed and arranged so that they canbe swung laterally throughan appre ciable angle, said angle being Vsubstantially ninety degreesfor each individually.

Considering structural details, the short bucket'conveyer 28 comprises aset of side stringers 36, one on each side, that serve as the means foroperatively supporting the upper shaft 29 and the lower shaft 30, saidstringers 36 being in spaced relation, and the shafts'extending acrossthe space and through suitable bearings that are provided in saidstringers 36. The bucket conveyer 28 is positioned in the space betweenthe stringere 36, the sprocket chains 32 that support the buckets 33, asmentioned, being themselves supported by the sprocket gears 37 that aremounted on'saidshafts 29 and 30, and the driving sprocket gear 31 on theprotruding end of theupper shaft 29, is adjacent one of the stringers36. L

A pair of bracket frames 38 arepositioned one on each side of thestringers 36, at the lower portion thereof, adjacent the lower shaft 30and comprise a plate-like'yoke por; tion 39 in each case that is opposedto and secured to they outer face of the stringer 36. The lower shaft 30is extended outwardly on each side through the Stringer 36 and alsovthrough the yoke portion 39 and, as shown,

supports by the free end portion a bevel gear 40.

`The yoke portion 39 is generally vertically directed and supports bythe upper and lower ends in each case a laterally directed arm 41, thetwo arms 41 being in spaced relation, one above the other and the b'evelgear 40 being positioned in the space between said 'arms 41.

A vertical shaft 42 is positioned across the space between the arms 41,is operatively supported from the arms 41 by means of suitable bearingsthat engage with the end portions of said shaft 42, and supports by thebody portion a bevel gear 44 that cooperates with the bevel gear 40.

The two arms 41 and the yoke 39 that compose the structure of thebracket frames 38 are, as described, in the form of a bifurcated :orforked structure.

The end portions 43 of the shaft 42 are supported by the arms 41 so asto be operaa` tive to serve as bearing supports for the sweeper device35.` and theI fulcrum for the same for swinging back and forthrelatively tothe bucket conveyer 28.

Said sweeperY device'comprises, as shown, a supporting armstructureofforked forni having an upper and adower" arm member 46Ythat`are generally similar and 'positioned in spaced relation, one abovethe Othe'nmand that" Connects with 'the main arm 45p., y. t. .y N I..

The inner end'portionsof'the arm members 46 overlap the arms 41 andhaveperforations forrecei'ving the end portions 43 of the Vshaft'42 and' areoperatively supported bythese parts.

Encircling the' main arm 45 is a sweeper conveyer 47 that operatesgenerally in a horizontal plane, beingsupported at the inner end by 'thevertical'shaft 42v andlat the outer 'end by a vertically directed 'idlerShaft 48. .y

i The sweeper lconveyer'47 comprises structurally a plurality'ofsweeperbuckets 49 in the form ofl laterally directed "'blade'sj of anysuitablek form `fordigging into the `side of avpile ofAloose"frna'teria'l and propelling the samefalong by Vasweeping or'scraping .movement and supported byv a Ksuitable sprocketchain structurethatl is operative to properly position and "guide said sweeper buckets49. j. f u, i. Y VIn thepresent instance I have provided for said`sprocket -'chain structure" aV pairof sprocket chains 50 positioned inspaced relation, one above 'the/"other,

Idler sprocket gears 51 on the idler shaft 48 supportthe vouter ends ofthe chains 50 and the inner ends thereof are supported by and driven bythe sprocket gears 52 on the body portion of the vertical shaft 42.

The direction of movement ofthe sweeper buckets 49 is such'that theblades or'buckets 49 on the front side move towards the bucket conveyer28, the chains 50 on the right side moving clockwise and those on theleft side moving counterclockwise. i

Thus with a pile of material in the immediate foreground before thebucket conveyer 28 the two sweeper devices 35 will V,be operative towork against opposite sides of the pile and deliver material in thevicinity of and adjacent the lower end portion of said bucket conveyer28.

To facilitatethe operations of the conveyer devices there may beprovided suitable backing or guiding structures of ksheet metal.

Thus for the sweeper devices 35 there are provided for each a sheetmetal trough structure 53 on the iront portion, extending along themajor portion of the length thereof, and positioned immediately back ofthe sweeper blades 49;

The trough structures 53 are constructed and arranged so that the innerend portions terminate above and adjacent an intermediate trough 54 thatis positioned underneath the lower end portion of the bucket conveyer28, so that material will be *de` posited thereon from the sweeperdevices suitably to be operated upon by the bucket conveyer 28. y

I claim as my invention l. ln combination in a conveyer-sweeperstructure, a main conveyer for elevating loose material, an auxiliaryconveyer for delivering such material to said main conveyer, and asweeper conveyer structure for gathering material from al pile anddelivering the same to said auxiliary conveyer, said structurecomprising a pair of similar individual sweeper devices, symmetricallyarranged relatively to the receiving portion of said auxiliary conveyer,and positioned one on each side of said receiving portion,

so that said conveyer-sweeper structure is operative to gather materialfrom the opposite sides of said pile, and the parts being constructedand arranged so that the ma-y terial will be delivered from said pile byan inward movement along the space between the individual sweeperdevices from the pile to said receiving portion of the auxiliaryconveyer.

2. A conveyer-sweeper structure comprising a sweeper structure that iscomposed of a pair of sweeper devices that are symmetrically arrangedand operative to be swung towards and away` from one another by asubstantially horizontal movement for operating upon a pile of materialthat is positioned between said devices and to deliver material fromsaid pile directly inwardly from said pile towards the space between theaxes of said devices, and an elevating conveyer structure having thereceiving end located so' as to receive such material from between saidaxes, whereby said pile serves to position said devices without otherpositioning means.

CHARLES A. NELSON.

